


Sinking Ships Can't Hold Much Water

by AbandonedSon



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Character Death, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, psuedo-incest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-15
Updated: 2012-08-15
Packaged: 2017-11-12 04:26:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/486671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbandonedSon/pseuds/AbandonedSon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He did not think Loki would run. Blood drops the size of silver dollars highlighted his path, gleaming darkly in the moonlight. Thor continued upwards, into the dark.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sinking Ships Can't Hold Much Water

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired heavily by this amazing piece of art by [wantstobelieve](http://wantstobelieve.tumblr.com/post/18576547319)

The dilapidated building was silent and empty, broken windows gaping like dead eyes out across the street. The bricks were water stained and covered in layers of faded and peeling graffiti. A skinny alley cat perched on one of the dumpsters arched its back and hissed as Thor approached. He shouldered aside the shattered remnants of the door, ducking to avoid the broken frame. Inside, the building was like a skeleton, the basic framework of steel girders visible even in the dim half-light. A set of metal stairs curved upwards into the gloom, and Thor moved towards them, taking no notice of the rats that scurried around his feet. 

Each step he took rang out through the building, echoing off the sharp corners and rebounding to his ears. Any misconceptions he’d had about stealth were soon crumbled, but Thor paid it no mind. He did not think Loki would run. Blood drops the size of silver dollars highlighted his path, gleaming darkly in the moonlight. Thor continued upwards, into the dark.

The last battle between his false-kin and his team mates had turned bloody and merciless within the first moments. The Captain had been felled by a large creature summoned from the darkest depths of Loki’s imagination, and the Man of Iron had suffered terrible wounds. If they knew where Loki hid, they would not hesitate to bring him in, to make him pay for his crimes. But Thor knew Loki, knew the moment he became injured on the field. It had been too easy a victory, and that made Thor’s stomach drop.

At the top of the building, there was a small annexe just off the main warehouse space. The door was flung open, hinges barely clinging to the rotten wood. The size of the blood droplets had increased, and there were scuffs through many, evidence of dragging feet. Thor knew he had the right place, and went inside. 

His eyes took a moment to adjust to the darkness, and what he thought to be a bundle of rags in the corner, turned out to be Loki. The Jotun prince was curled in the corner, breathing laboured in the dark. His eyes were closed, heavy bags evident beneath them. His breastplate was shattered inward, his greaves missing and the rest of his armour flung haphazardly around the room. Blood spread like ink through his doublet, dark as Loki’s hair. Thor moved further into the room. 

Loki’s eyes snapped open, glittering green even in the darkness. He opened his mouth and uttered a word in some harsh foreign tongue. Thor felt the hair on the back of his neck rise, but there seemed to be no harm. Loki’s sorcery was never weak Thor’s throat tightened. 

“Loki,” he said, moving towards his brother cautiously, like one would move toward an injured snake. 

Loki snarled at him, eyes aflame with venom. “Come to drag me back to Asgard, _brother_?” he sneered, “Well, I’m afraid Odin will have to wait unto the next life to punish me.” 

Thor settled down next to Loki, manhandling his brother carefully until he was cradled between Thor’s legs, pressed up against his chest. 

“Don’t touch me! Why can’t you just leave me be? Thor, you fool…” Loki snarled and struggled weakly, skin almost translucently pale. After a moment he sagged back, chest heaving as he fought for a breath that would not catch. 

“Bastard,” he finally gasped out. “Can I not even die in peace? Do I not deserve even that!?”

“I would not have you dying in this pit, Loki.” Thor said, throat tight with emotion. “And not alone. Never alone.”

Thor wanted to argue with him, wanted to scoop up his never-brother and take him to a healer, beg him to get better, not to leave Thor _alone_. Instead, he gathered Loki in his arms and held on. 

“I love you.” He said instead, pressing his face into the cool curve of Loki’s neck, breathing in the scent of steel and ice and blood. Loki made a soft disbelieving sound in the back of his throat that would have broken Thor’s heart, were it not already shattering. 

“No matter what, do not doubt that you are loved. I love you, Loki. I love you.” He continued, speaking the words directly into Loki’s skin, attempting to imprint them upon his heart.

Loki’s chest heaved uselessly, hands reaching up to cover Thor’s. “You pick the worst of times to unburden your heart,” he laughed hollowly, more a gasp toward the end. His shoulders shook, the tremors shuddering into Thor. Loki was far too pale and fragile in his arms, and so damn cold. Thor pressed a kiss into the joint of Loki’s neck and shoulder, mouthing words of love into his skin. 

“I had to say it. I had to tell you, before –” Thor’s throat closed up and he choked down a sob that threatened to burst free. 

“Before.” Loki repeated faintly, cold hand pressing against Thor’s. 

He imprinted the feeling of Loki’s body pressed against his into his mind, the scent of Loki’s hair, the soft cadence of his tired voice, even the harshness of his breaths. Thor wanted to remember every last detail with crystal clarity, never wanted to let go of his brother. He wanted to remember every detail that he could not recall from previous encounters, cursing himself for never cataloguing those small things, assuming that he would have them forever. 

“Thor,” Loki gasped out, his breathing becoming slower and more laboured. Even the sound of air being dragged into his unwilling lungs was torturous to Thor’s ears. It simply acted as a reminder that Loki was fading, soon to go where Thor could not follow. 

“I’m here. I’m here.” The words cut like glass, but he forced them out anyway. “I will love you, always.” 

Loki’s hand on his tightened momentarily, a tired wheezy laugh filling the still air around them. “Yes…Yes, I imagine you would – brother.” 

Loki exhaled in a rattle, his body stilling under Thor’s hands. 

A sob built up in his throat, bursting free of his mouth with an ugly keening cry. Loki’s name fell from his lips hopelessly as he clung to his brother’s body. Tears fell from his eyes like the raindrops that raged outside, a howling wind battering the ramshackle building. 

“No, no, no, no, Loki.” 

Lightening flashed violently outside, the physical embodiment of the grief that wracked through Thor’s heart. The place in his mind where Loki’s quiet presence had been for the ages was finally, heartbreakingly empty.


End file.
